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It was the late 90’s and social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook didn’t exist yet. Texting was still in its infancy, as very few people had cell phones at the time. Email was a popular communication method among those with computer access, but it lacked the real-time feel that makes in-person conversation so engaging.
For that, you needed an instant messaging program, and when the dominant Internet movement really began to take root, there were four main competitors vying for a position: AOL instant messaging, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger from Microsoft.
Microsoft’s entry was released on July 22, 1999, which was already delayed considering that ICQ had been around for almost three years and AOL had followed up with AIM in the spring of 1997. Even Yahoo’s messaging client beat Microsoft’s in the market for over a year, but as Microsoft has proven, you don’t have to be the first to rise to the top.
A key decision at the time was Microsoft’s integration with Hotmail, leveraging the huge popularity of the company’s proprietary web-based email service to provide those millions of users with instant communication capabilities.
MSN Messenger Service version 1.0 ships with a Spartan feature set that includes plain text messaging and a basic contact list. From the beginning, it caught the attention of rival AOL, as Microsoft had scrambled the MSN Messenger service so that it could chat with AIM account holders. Needless to say, AOL wasn’t thrilled.
As Former AOL Engineer Eric Bosco relates, any messaging service connecting to the AIM network was required to provide a version type. The Microsoft application was identified as “MSN Messenger Version 1.0”, so Bosco and the company modified AIM to cut the connection every time this version tried to connect to their network.
Microsoft responded with an update that caused the MSN Messenger Service to identify itself as AIM. AOL blocked it again, and this back-and-forth battle reportedly lasted 21 times longer before AOL threatened to inject malicious code into the MSN network.
Microsoft backed down and instead ended up partnering with another major player.
Microsoft continued to develop its messaging client over the next several years, slowly but surely adding new user interface elements and functionalities such as the ability to customize chat windows and facilitate file transfers between users. In early 2001, MSN Messenger Service had more than 29 million unique users worldwide, enough to make it the most widely used instant messaging service in the world according to Microsoft.
With the release of Windows XP in 2001, Microsoft shortened the program’s name to just MSN Messenger. A few years later, the Redmond-based tech giant achieved interoperability agreement with Yahoo! that would allow users of their respective instant messaging services to chat with each other. Together, they created the world’s largest consumer instant messaging community with an estimated 275 million users.
From text-only conversations to a whole world of interactivity, Messenger finally got features like emoticons, webcam video conversations, sending short audio clips, real-time gaming with your contacts, and the infamous “nudge” that would send a buzzer sound and shake the chat window to get the attention of another user.
With the release of the eighth major version of the program, Microsoft changed the name of the application again, this time changing it to “Windows Live Messenger” to align with its broader family of Windows Live software and web services.
For a while, it seemed like Microsoft couldn’t go wrong with its instant messaging app. But as we all know, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
With the latest revisions to Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft removed a host of core features, bugs in the platform were glaring, and even security was questioned time and time again.
With version 9.0, for example, the company removed several default status options and removed the ability to adjust webcam settings during a video call. Windows Live Messenger 2009 RC saw Microsoft remove the custom login sound feature.
Things went from bad to worse in 2012 when Microsoft forced Windows Vista and Windows 7 users to upgrade from an older version of the application to a newer version, and stopped offering support for Windows XP altogether shortly thereafter. This was roughly the same time as Microsoft acquired Skype.
Nor could the arrival of social networks and mobile devices be ignored. These technologies were enabling new ways for people to keep in touch with friends and family that did not involve a traditional computer.
Although Microsoft released mobile versions of Windows Live for several major platforms, including iOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone (and even added integration with Facebook chat), there was a combination of factors that simply took Microsoft out of the instant messaging game. In the end, they found an exit strategy with Skype, but they didn’t fare so well either …
In May 2011, Microsoft confirmed would buy the telecommunications app Skype for $ 8.5 billion, and in November of the following year, we learned that Messenger would roll in Skype
With the integration, Messenger users could still contact their friends via Skype, but it effectively set the wheels in motion to discontinue the standalone version of Windows Live Messenger. In addition, Skype was well loved and used worldwide, but in Microsoft’s hands, the development of the program did not prosper.
As sure as the wind blows, Microsoft started Gradual elimination Windows Live Messenger in April 2013. China was the only exception, but finally, the application was also withdrawn from this market on October 31, 2014.
If Microsoft could do things again, they probably wouldn’t want to miss out on Windows becoming a major player in the field of mobile operating systems. Similarly, MSN Messenger could have been today’s WhatsApp or Snapchat, but a lack of focus, loss of trust from its immense user base, and a poorly managed transition to Skype brought Messenger into the graveyard of technology.
MSN Messenger’s influence lingers on Skype and many of today’s messaging platforms, but that’s another story for another time.
The history of software applications and companies that at one time made it into the mainstream and were widely used, but are now gone. We cover the most prominent areas of its history, innovations, successes and controversies.
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